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Digitals have another huge advantage, portability. The average American moves every seven years, though those with large pianos probably move less than the average. So add the cost of several piano moves to the cost of an acoustic. For a baby grand or decent upright that might be $500 a move.

It is interesting the bits about asking for advice. Some companies ask more than others. Perhaps Japanese companies are a bit more closed than some other cultures. I'm sure they do some marketing surveys. It may be focused mostly on collecting information from dealers, and perhaps only select dealers. Working with the dealer network would be a lot easier than dealing with piano customers all over the world that speak different languages, and have widely divergent cultural biases and preferences.

While it seems an easy thing to listen to customers, it is not so easy to execute. I remember a story about a computer gaming company that got a group of gamers to help with the next version of the game. Unfortunately, I believe the company got the wrong people for their group. They were not mainstream people. Their priorities were far removed from what I might have chosen. The game was full of clunky features that only the few fans like those in the group appreciated, and lacked a lot of things that more mainstream people might have liked. The game did not sell well.

An example of listening and getting it right, or at least close, was the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The production team enlisted a large group of dedicated Tolkien fans and asked the group for input on many decisions, big and small. While some fans were disappointed by some decisions, overall the fan input made the movies better without alienating the casual movie watcher.

It is interesting the bits about asking for advice. Some companies ask more than others. Perhaps Japanese companies are a bit more closed than some other cultures. I'm sure they do some marketing surveys. It may be focused mostly on collecting information from dealers, and perhaps only select dealers. Working with the dealer network would be a lot easier than dealing with piano customers all over the world that speak different languages, and have widely divergent cultural biases and preferences.

While it seems an easy thing to listen to customers, it is not so easy to execute. I remember a story about a computer gaming company that got a group of gamers to help with the next version of the game. Unfortunately, I believe the company got the wrong people for their group. They were not mainstream people. Their priorities were far removed from what I might have chosen. The game was full of clunky features that only the few fans like those in the group appreciated, and lacked a lot of things that more mainstream people might have liked. The game did not sell well.

An example of listening and getting it right, or at least close, was the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The production team enlisted a large group of dedicated Tolkien fans and asked the group for input on many decisions, big and small. While some fans were disappointed by some decisions, overall the fan input made the movies better without alienating the casual movie watcher.

I have been involved in 'customer focus groups' a few times, to do with outdoor and mountaineering equipment (I'm a hiker and mountaineer, among other things..). One was for Polartec, who was launching an advertising campaign for their latest fleece. Ten of us were fed and watered, then asked for our opinions on which photo (out of three) best showed off the properties of the new material. We weren't allowed to consult with each other. The results were almost equally split 4/3/3.

A few months later, I opened a mountaineering magazine, to find a full page advertisement for Polartec's new Wind Pro fleece......with all three photos in it .

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"I don't play accurately - anyone can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life."